Winter weather could delay COVID-19 vaccine appointments in state
The federal government alerted Pennsylvania Friday that significant winter weather postponed shipments of COVID-19 vaccines.
The holdup could impact appointments to receive a vaccine, the state Health Department said.
“It’s too early to know which vaccine providers are being affected by these weather-related delays,” acting Health Secretary Alison Beam said.
“We know that the federal government is working with manufacturers, and we know that local vaccine providers will be ready when the shipments do get through,” Beam said. “Unfortunately, weather delays will impact the ability to get vaccine into arms, and providers are working to reschedule appointments as necessary.”
Pennsylvania was allocated 326,850 vaccine doses for the week ending Saturday, a number that was 12,000 higher than the previous week, the Gov. Tom Wolf administration said.
The virus has killed 23,480 Pennsylvanians since March after 67 new deaths were announced Friday, including two in Fayette County and one in Washington County. Eighteen of the deaths were reported in Allegheny County, its health department said.
The state reported 2,778 new virus cases, bringing the cumulative total since March to 908,773.
Washington County reported 32 new virus cases, taking its total to 13,462. Fayette added 27 new cases to its total of 10,253. Greene’s case-count grew by 11 to 2,608.